Sweet Araucariaceae. Araucaria cunninghamii

Transcription

1 LOCAL NAMES English (Richmond river pine,moreton Bay pine,hoop pine,colonial pine); German (kolonialkiefer,cunninghams Schmucktanne); Indonesian (pien,ningwik,alloa); Portuguese (yau); Thai (son naam) BOTANIC DESCRIPTION Araucaria cunninghamii is a large, unbuttressed, symmetrical tree, m high; bole straight, cylindrical, self-pruning, clean to 30 m or more; mature trees m in diameter; trunk internodes variable, 1-4 m; crown pyramidal to flat; branches in whorls of up to 6, more or less horizontal, with 2nd- to 5th-order branchlets; outer bark dark plum, redbrown or grey, rough, peeling off around circumference in stringy papery layers; middle bark reddish-brown; inner bark mottled white. A. cunnighamii, 13 year old species trial plot, CATIE, Turrialba, Costa Rica. (David Boshier) Juvenile leaves x mm, longer and flatter than adult, persist until trees are 10 years old; adult foliage crowded in overlapping whorls on ends of branches, persistent, without petioles, narrow to broadly triangular, slightly curved, 8-10 mm long, glabrous, dull green. Monoecious; male strobili usually borne on lower and mid-crown branches, terminal, green, yellow at anthesis, red-brown later, elongated, about 90 x 10 mm. Cone green, ovoid, x mm, covered with short spines, 9-10 mm long, deflexed; seed in the form of ovulate cone scales, more or less flat, woody, triangular, with 2 thin wings, indehiscent scale terminating in a sharp spine; reddish-brown. Juvenile foliage from stump shoots on mature trees at Gympie, Queensland, Australia (Anthony Simons) The name araucaria is derived from Arauco, a province of southern Chile. BIOLOGY Female flowering commences when it is about 12 years old while male flowering does not occur until it is years. However in seed orchards of this species the age of production of male cones has been reduced to only 5 years and female cones from about 12 to 2-3 years using physiologically mature grafting material. The seed production is often unreliable and low; a time lapse of 8-10 years between good seed crops is common (Schmidt, 2000). Araucaria cunninghamii seedling (David Boshier) Page 1 of 5

2 ECOLOGY A. cunninghamii occurs in isolated remnant pockets or in fairly dense stands on ridges. In some instances it is found on swampy terrain, often associated with A. hunsteinii, Castanopsis, Flindersia, Lithocarpus and Toona spp. It mainly occurs as scattered, predominant trees over an understorey of rainforest; only rarely does it form pure forests. BIOPHYSICAL LIMITS Altitude: m, Mean annual temperature: deg. C, Mean annual rainfall: mm Soil type: Stands are found on loam, clay sand or peat soils derived from breccias, agglomerates, coralline or limestone formations, lacustrine deposits or old volcanic deposits. DOCUMENTED SPECIES DISTRIBUTION Native: Exotic: Australia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea Eritrea, Kenya, Nigeria, Solomon Islands, Uganda, Zimbabwe Native range Exotic range The map above shows countries where the species has been planted. It does neither suggest that the species can be planted in every ecological zone within that country, nor that the species can not be planted in other countries than those depicted. Since some tree species are invasive, you need to follow biosafety procedures that apply to your planting site. Page 2 of 5

3 PRODUCTS Fibre: A. cunninghamii is directly or indirectly suitable for pulping through the use of wood residues. Timber: A. cunninghamii produces a medium-quality softwood for use as general-purpose construction timber; better grades are suitable for internal finishes for buildings, furniture and cabinet making. It is also an excellent veneer species and is used as such. SERVICES Reclamation: A. cunnighamii is potentially capable of being an important plantation enrichment planting species in Africa and tropical America. Ornamental: The tree is cultivated for ornamental purposes. Page 3 of 5

4 TREE MANAGEMENT Rigorous weeding is necessary until the canopy closes, as Araucaria species suffer from grass competition, grow only slowly and often turn chlorotic. It is a self-pruning species. In Australia, the 1st thinning is done at 17 years, leaving 865 stems/ha, followed by the 2nd thinning at 22 years, the 3rd thinning at 27 years, and the final thinning at 50 years, leaving 198 stems/ha. The trees are normally clear felled at 60 years of age. GERMPLASM MANAGEMENT Seed storage behaviour is orthodox. Mature seeds collected at about 36% mc tolerate desiccation to about 7 % mc or even 2% mc without loss in viability. A germination rate of 43% has occurred after 8 years of hermetic air-dry storage at -15 deg. C. The viability of seeds that have been dried to moisture contents in equilibrium with ambient environment was maintained for 8 years at -9 deg. C to -15 deg. C. Similarly, 50% germination after 50 weeks of air-dry storage at - 12 deg. C has been reported. If mature seeds are dried to 5% mc, long-term storage is possible in sealed containers at 3 deg. C. or lower. There are approximately seeds/kg. PESTS AND DISEASES The larvae of Septromorpha rutella are known to infest A. cunninghamii seed. Weevils (Vanapa oberthueri) are associated with damage on trees following poor pruning or thinning. Other pests include the termite Coptotermes elisae and Amblypelta cocophaga, a leaf-footed bug. Page 4 of 5

5 FURTHER READNG Anon The useful plants of India. Publications & Information Directorate, CSIR, New Delhi, India. Bein E Useful trees and shrubs in Eritrea. Regional Soil Conservation Unit (RSCU), Nairobi, Kenya. Boland DJ. et. al Forest trees of Australia. CSIRO. Australia Booth TH, Ryan P Climatic effects on the diameter growth of A. cunninghamii Air ex D. Don. Forest Ecology and Management. 10(4): Chaplin GE Silvicultural manual of the Solomon Islands. Overseas Development Administration Series, UK. FAO Databook on endangered tree and shrub species and provenances. FAO Forestry Paper 77. FAO, Rome. Hong TD, Linington S, Ellis RH Seed storage behaviour: a compendium. Handbooks for Genebanks: No. 4. IPGRI. Katende AB et al Useful trees and shrubs for Uganda. Identification, Propagation and Management for Agricultural and Pastoral Communities. Regional Soil Conservation Unit (RSCU), Swedish International Development Authority (SIDA). Lamprecht H Silviculture in the tropics: tropical forest ecosystems and their tree species; possibilities and methods for their long-term utilization. Dt. Ges. für. Techn. Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH, Eschborn. (Translated by Brose J et. al.). Noad T, Birnie A Trees of Kenya. General Printers, Nairobi. Schmidt L Guide to handling of tropical and subtropical forest seed. DFSC. Soerianegara I, Lemmens RHMJ (eds.) Plant Resources of South-East Asia. No. 5(1): Timber trees: major commercial timbers. Backhuys Publishers, Leiden. SUGGESTED CITATION Orwa C, A Mutua, Kindt R, Jamnadass R, S Anthony Agroforestree Database:a tree reference and selection guide version 4.0 ( Page 5 of 5